"This would have caused members of the public to fear for their safety," said Miss Dolby. The truth emerged when a man she knew was interviewed. "She admitted she had lied," said Miss Dolby. Police asked Beasley: "Were you raped?" Beasley replied: "I was with somebody I should not have been with. I won't name him because he is married." Miss Dolby added: "She fully admitted lying to the police and said she had never been raped." Nick Furman, mitigating, said that Beasley found herself in "very sad circumstances" and "felt that she had to do this." She made a "poor decision," he added.

No further mitigation was given. Presiding magistrate Barry Thirtle told Beasley: "You appreciate now that wasting police time is not a good thing to do. "The magistrates had taken account of her guilty plea and the fact that she had no previous convictions, he added. Unemployed Beasley was given a one-year supervision order, 150 hours' unpaid work and must pay £329 compensation to the police forensic science service for wasted tests.

Comment: Several hallmarks of the typical false rape accusation case: police more concerned about their time than innocent men questioned for a crime they did not commit. A woman lying about rape to cover up an affair. And her attorney painting her as a victim, noting the "sad circumstances" of a lie she felt compelled to commit. (Somehow I can't see a rapist's attorney bothering with that defense. But of course we all know that false reporting about rape isn't really a "CRIME" crime, is it?)